05.24.2016 an adventure awaits

I am excited to say that tomorrow is the day I finally set off for my highly anticipated journey: Studying abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I have been looking forward to this trip for almost a year now and I cannot believe the time has finally come and I am actually doing it.

I have chosen to blog about the experience I will be having and day-to-day life while I am there for the next month, so expect to see plenty of photos, videos, and written posts!

I chose to study abroad in Thailand because it has been a place that has always appealed to me as well as I am interested in experience something completely different and out of my comfort zone. I am interested to see what I learn from this country both in and out the classroom. Just about everything about this journey excites me and I am ready to take it on full force.

As far as my flights go, I will not actually be arriving in Chiang Mai until Friday around 11. I have four flights and about 36 hours of total travel going from Philadelphia to Boston, Boston to Doha, Doha to Bangkok, and finally Bangkok to Chiang Mai. I am probably going to regret saying this on Friday morning, but for some reason this is sort of exciting to me because it is something I have never done before and I am the type of person who will try just about anything once.

While I am there I will be taking a Thai language class and a Buddhist Philosophy class, which should be very interesting! In addition to the classes, the program has set up a variety of excursions that include going to an elephant sanctuary, a cooking class, a trip to Bangkok, trekking, and more.

The most difficult part of the process thus far was obtaining my visa. It wasn’t too all too difficult but making sure I had all the required pieces was sort of stressful for me because although I had everything I needed on the list I was convinced I messed up a piece of information, gave the wrong thing, or messed up the postage sending it there or so they could mail by passport back to me. Fortunately, my passport came back to me in a very reasonable amount of time with my visa. After getting the mail that day I had a smile that didn’t move from my face for the rest of the night because now there was nothing holding me back from going.

I am excited to keep writing and sharing my journey with you all! Feel free to leave comments below or shoot me an email to hannahmacios@hotmail.com !!

 

Hannah